Dear Room 2 Families,                                                       Tuesday, September 15, 2015

     It was so nice to see so many of you at Curriculum Night on Wednesday evening. I realize that it’s a very busy time of year and that not everyone was able to make it to the meeting. I look forward to meeting with those of you whom I’ve not yet met during our fall conference. I will be in contact with families who need to set up a conference time.

      We've had several busy weeks here in Room 2!  We've been working to establish our classroom environment by familiarizing ourselves with first grade life.  Children have taken part in several “getting to know you” activities during Morning Meeting and Open Circle. We’ve practiced how to get into our Open Circle setting safely, calmly and cooperatively. We've discussed rules, appropriate behavior, and positive work habits during our first few Open Circles as well. Our class is also working on fostering friendships and creating connections between children by sharing what’s important and special to them with their Important Boxes. Please see the attached newsletter for more information about our Open Circle curriculum.

      Children drew self-portraits on the first day of school and have each made a “Things I Like” book. Each child has brought his or her positive attitude to class along with a great deal of enthusiasm…even with the crazy hot weather we had. We had school picture day and a fire drill, too! Wow, have these kids been flexible! I thank you all for supporting your child in these first weeks of transition into a full day of school.

  

Reading Workshop

  

     Our reading program is off to a smooth start. The children are becoming familiar with the structure of Reading Workshop in first grade.  Each child will have a selection of appropriate reading material in his/her book bag in the next few weeks.  I've been listening to children read from various leveled books as I assess their current skills. What an exciting time for first graders as they begin to embark on their journey into reading, or as they continue to discover the wonderful adventures that books provide us with! We will start small group work in early October. Each child will meet in a small group once or twice a week, as well as meeting with me individually to read and focus on specific strategies.

Word Work/Phonics and other Literacy Information

     We will be reviewing beginning sounds during our daily Word Work (phonics) lessons. We'll be playing word games to help strengthen phonemic awareness (the awareness of the sounds that make up spoken words).  Listening to the sounds of words and segmenting them helps children to identify the sounds that make up words.  Learning to manipulate these sounds will allow them to sound out and spell unfamiliar words when they read and write. The children will also take part in several hands-on activities that require them to manipulate or match up words and sounds.

      We've been enjoying literacy experiences through a number of read-alouds this past week. Several of our class favorites during read-aloud include:

First Day Jitters by Julie Dannenberg

That’s Good! That’s Bad! By Margery Cuyler

How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague

The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing

Giraffes Can’t Dance By Giles Andrede

A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech

Children are welcome to borrow any of these books from our classroom library if they wish to share them with you at home!

    

Homework and Important Papers Folder

     Each day your child will bring home his/her “Homework and Important Papers Folder” with notices, completed work, and an occasional homework activity. Please use it to return the homework and any notes or forms. I'll send some of your child’s work home to you once I have taken a look at it. I'll be keeping some pieces for your child’s portfolio, which will be very helpful when looking at your child’s progress during conferences.  It may be helpful for you to go through your child’s backpack at the end of each day, asking questions about our activities so that you can get a general feel about your child’s day.  I'll be sending newsletters home with explanations and details about various activities and upcoming events.  You may want to read certain parts of the newsletter with your child to remind him/her of our activities if your child is one to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” when asked about his/her day. This is more common than you think so I'll do my best to provide you with as much information as possible so that you are feeling fully in touch with your child’s school experience. As I explained on Curriculum Night,  paper copies of newsletters will be sent home at first; I’m very new to the world of blogging, so our Technology Specialist is helping me to update my Happy Hollow Website and post newsletters online. I will let you know when I post information. If you have not yet sent me your email, please do so at your earliest convenience to that you will receive important classroom information via email. Also, if you would prefer a paper copy of our newsletter, please let me know and I will be happy to send one home with your child.

  Who is....?

     Your child may have told you about the adults that he/she is coming in contact with or has heard about during the school day. There are several people who will be a part of their first grade experience and I would like to tell you a little about each of them.

Jennifer Norton: Ms. Norton is our special education liaison this year. She will be in the classroom for some language arts and math lessons. Even if your child is not on an education plan, he/she may occasionally work with her.

Christine Hayes: Mrs. Hayes is our reading specialist and will work with small groups of children during Reader’s Workshop. She has been helping with reading assessments this week. She will be meeting with children three times a week, as determined by the results of her literacy assessments.

Deede Bergeron and Laura O’Brien: These 2 ladies ore my beloved first grade teaching colleagues! Your child may work in a math group or reading group with one of them or both of them during the school year.

Maddie Keyes, Chelsea Kelly, and Anna de los Reyes: These 3 ladies are our Happy Hollow Building Substitutes. They may occasionally help out in class if they are not assigned to another classroom on any given day. They LOVE first graders and always enjoy spending time with us!

Homework

     Many of the children have been asking for homework. They are so eager to show you how grown up they are! I told them that for now, homework for first graders in Room 2 consists of 10-15 minutes of reading each night, either independently or with a family member.

Fifth Grade Buddies

We will be meeting with our Fifth Grade Buddies in Ms. Candini's class in the next few weeks!  Details to come!

Volunteers

     Many of you have asked if I will be looking for parent volunteers to help out in class this year and the answer is a great big YES! I’ll take the first month of school to establish routines within the classroom and to get to know the children, and then I'd love to have parents in as volunteers beginning in October. I love having parents in class, both to help out with activities, and so that you can see how the children learn and grow in their school environment!  

If you have any specific questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me at 508-358-2120. 

Take Care,

Lise Weig